Tractor-driven snowplow



2 SheeJLs-Sheerl INVENTOR.'

ATTORNEYS.

v. P. MARRAN Filed Jan. 51, 1927 TRACTQR DRIVEN sNowPLoW June 18, 1929.

June 18, 1929 V.P.MARRAN TRACTOR DRIVEN SNOWPLOW Filed Jan. 3l, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 18, 1929.

U N ITE D tST VINCENT l?. MARRAN, F HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETT TRAGTORQRIVEN sNowP'Low.

Application *filed `January 31, 1927. Sera1Noi`l64O1.

This invention relates to tractorsdriven snowplows and it is particularly concernedr with improvements which enable the plow to be turned4 by the. tractor, for steering` pur- 5 poses, more easily and about ashorter radius.

The tractor is located behind the plow and pushes the latter by means of two laterallyspaced, side frame members. rlhese f are l'ixe'd vto the plow and Aextend rearwardly 1o thereorp one on each side of the tractor. The tractor is generally of the endless traction belt type, wherein steering' is eli'ected by varying the relative speed of the two traction belts, whereby the'tractorcan be easily turned about a short radius. rlhe tractorturns the plow by abutting one or the other of the side frame members and cooperating'bilder-members are providedt'or this purpose. lt has been'the practice,rherctofore, so far as l am aware, to providebut one pair of cooperating buffer members on each side `of the tractor. It has also been the practice, heretotore,to have'the forward end of the tractor enter only a `short ways'between said side frame members. The `iront end of the tractor has been relatively-remote from the point of the plow so that room wasr available only for one pairof butler members on each side of the tractor. Asthe point of the plow is located more'remote from the center of the tractor, it becomes more di'tlicultto turn the plow and a larger radius is necessary in which to turnthe plow. Thus, the remoteness of the tracto'rirom the'plow yandthe lack of roomior an adequate arrangement otbufler members each contribute to make steering ditlicult.

The difcultiesdescribed, so'ar as large, heavy-duty plows are concerned, has `arisen from the use of a crossframe' memberiwhich is, nevertheless, a veryn'ecessary part of a heavy duty plow. -Such member is necessary to connect and brace the two walls ot the plow and to connect and brace' the side frame members. 'A plow which lacks such aimeraber is not a heavy duty plow. This cross frame member, both by its construction and location, has limited the distance available for the plowto enterbetween'the side frame members and hascaused the point 'of the plow andthe 'front end o'lfthe tractor' to be relativelyl widely separated. According toprior practice, the cross frame member consists of a gusset plate, which kextends across between the plow walls and by its location the tractor from `closely,approachingrthe point crank of the tractor.

prevents ol the plow. Also, this plate, by reason of its construction blocks fall access to 'the starting y n Thus, froom enough Ahas to be left between suchv plate andthe front end of the tractor for an operator' to stand and turn thecrank and the front end ot thetractor could not closely approaclrthe plate. i f

According to my invention, ilhavevmoved the cross frame member so far forwardly that 1t no longerpresentsalimitingfobstacle to the entrance of the tractor, allowinthe'tractor to come as closely' as feasible tothe nlow walls, and I have so constructed saidlmember as to provide a recess to enable' the operator to operate the starting cranlr while standina in the space between the cross frame member and the point'of thelplow. In this way, the Jfront end of the tra'ctorcan be'brought much closer to the point of the plow and the plow can'thereforev be turned more easily and about a smaller radius. Other objects and advantageswill appear 1n the i'ollowingy description and j will be pointed out in the appended claims. `The invention will be disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings, .in which y v y' Figs 1 and 2 are side elevational and plan views, respectively, of a tractor 'driven snowplow embodying my invention; and y Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on theline k3-3 oflFig. 2.

Referring to these drawings; the snowplow includes two suitably curved plow 'walls'f5, usually of heavy boiler plate, and these walls are disposed in V-form or inforwardly convergingrelation. The walls 5 aresuitably joined'together, 'as indicated in Fig.' 2, where they intersect to'torm the edge,` and this-edge at its'lower end terminates with `a plow point?. A, central runnerS is usually provided at the point of the plowfandthis runner is supplemented by other suitable runners, such as that shownfat 9 inFig. l.y

Each side'frame member, in the particular form shown, includes upper and lower, hori- Zontally-disposed angle irons l0 and lland avertical gusset plate l2, to whichthefforward ends of the angleiron's `are lixed and by whichl they are rigidly connected; yanda vertically disposed plate l'3,whichv connects the angle irons at their rear `ends "and zto which they are rigidly secured. IEaeh'fset of upper and -lower angle irons 10y andillare rigidly connected to the acent xplow f wallk f and connect with the plow wall near the Y outer end thereof. The front end of each` .aKV

5 angle iron braces 14 and 15, respectively, which extend outwardly andforwardly with. rllhe particular construction of the side frame members, just-described, and the way in which they are attached to the plow isnot at all essential and may Vbe varied as desired.

any suitable type, which are fixed to the `plow and extend rearwardlythereof in substantial- A ly parallel relation.

The'cross frame member, in the form here- `in disclosed, consists of a gusset plate 17, kcut out in the form best shown in Fig. v3, and

a reenforcing angle iron 18, which is secured to the gusset plateand extends along the lower edge thereof VThe lower portions of the side edges of the gusset plate are parallel f and vertically disposed and these portions abut the twoU laterally-spaced gussetrplates with. This plate 17 extends high-enough so that'it abuts the plow walls over a substantial distance and enoughto secure adequate cross bracing of the plow walls. It has been usual, heretofore, for the plate 17 to extend', full width, across from one plow wall to the other. According to my invention, however, I cutaway a great deal of the plate 17, in the central portion'thereof, to provide a very deep recess 20 which extends rather close to the bottom edge of the plate. The lower boundary wall of the recess indicated at 21 is an arc of a circle and the side boundary walls 22 extend tangentially to wall 21 and in upwardly diverging-.relation The plate 17 is thus virtually divided intok two sections, each of which is fashioned muchY like a buttress and they function as such.

Y These buttresses are connected by a relatively narrow central portion which would be insufficient of itself to withstand the Athrusts imposed on the buttresses and might buckle under the strains. To compensate for this difculty, ywhich is ,the necessary result in-v cident to the provision of recess 20, I reen forcefthelower edgey ofthe plate 17 by the angle iron V18 and thus prevent any possible buckling'of the center of plate 17 and alsoy add tothe strength ofthe cross frame member. Thewhole as constructed, is to all inv y tents and purposes, the equivalent of a lower cross member with struts or braces securedV thereto at or near the center and extending The main point `is that there areV two laterally-spaced side frame members. of

in upwardly diverging fashion to meet the plow. walls. Y

The tractor, indicated generally by reference letter T, is shown in more or less conventional form. it includes two endless traction belts Z) the vrelative speeds of which can be varied, in the usual and well known inanner, ior steering purposes. The engine of the tractor (not shown) is located at the front end thereof beneath the lhood hand projecting from the front end of the tractor is the conventional crank c, by means of which the engine may be manually turned over for starting purposes. v. ,At the rear of the -tractor isaV draft rigging, indicated conventionally at (l.

VThe plow is` connected to the tractor draft rigging by means of two pusher members 25 one on each sideof the tractor. The front end of each member 25 is pivotally connected at 26 to a side frame member of the plow and at its rear end to a cross bar 27, which in turn is suitably connected tothe draftrigging Z of the tractor. f

About midway between the front and rear ends of the tractor, and` arranged oneon each side thereof, aro suitable buffer membersBO, designed to engage cooperating buffer members 31, secured one to eachy pusher member 25 and at thefront end thereof.` The members 31 are'located just opposite the rear ends of the side frame: members of the'plow and the result is the saine as if the buifers 31 were secured to said side `frame members, as the latter and not thepusher members. take the lateral shocks imposed. Similar cooperating pairs of buifer members, each pair of whichk comprises anelement 33 secured to thetractor and an element 34 fixed teV a side frame member of the plow, are provided one on each side of the tractor and spaced well toward the frontthereof. Thus, the pairs of cooperating louder members on each side of the tractor are substantially spaced apart in a longitudinal direction. Considering Fig. 2 and assuming that the upper belt 7) is travelling faster than the lower belt, so thatzthe tractor will turn in a course which-is ydownward of the drawing, then the upper rear bufferv 30 pushes on the rear end of the upper side frame member of the plow and the lower front buffer 33 pushes on the lower side frame member of the plow near its front end. In this way, the tractor on each side pushes laterally on the plow '.1 opposite directions and at locations such. that the very heavy and bulky plow can beturned with ease, as compared to prior practice where only one buffer was used frame member of the plow permit the result described. The tractor is permitted to enterL plow wall's. lThe :front rendsi of the traction belts'barebrought relatively close to theplow iwalls. vI`lie-effortis'to bringrthevcenter of mass of" the i plow much nearer Sto) the center 'of mass .oftheitractor `-soth'at it isea'sirto turn the plow and sotlratlthelplowvcan be turned on shorteriradius. Toil this end, the cross frame member has been locatedas far forwardly l,as possibleandw so far forwardly that it no longer limits the distance to which the tractor can enter between the side frame members. It is true that, except for the recess 2O in the cross frame member, the latter would limit said distance because of the abutment of the crank c therewith, but such recess, as shown, permits the crank to pass therethrough and is of such dimensions andI so located that the crank may be freely turned. There is just room enough ahead of the cross frame `member to permit an operator to stand and crank the engine. At the very least, there is a saving of the crankingf space as a result of the arrangement described. That is, if the operator had to stand in front of the cross member, the front end of the tractor would have to be spaced back from the cross frame member enough to allow room for cranking. The saving of the cranking space and the additional saving of space effected by moving the cross frame member ahead as far as is feasible, permits the centers of mass of the tractor and plow to be brought much more closely together than has heretofore been possible with a heavy duty plow of the type in which a cross frame member is indispensably necessary.

rIlhus, I have provided improvements in tractor driven snowplows which permit the plow to be steered more easily from the tractor and turned about a smaller radius than in the prior tractor driven snowplows of which I am aware.

The invention has been disclosed herein, in an embodiment at present preferred for illustra-tive purposes but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

IVhat I claim is:

l. In combination, a tractor, a snowplow located ahead of the tractor and having fixed thereto laterallyspaced side frame members which extend rearwardly from the plow one one each side of the tractor to a point substantially midway of the tractor, buffer members on the tractor and cooperating buffer members on said frame members, whereby the plow may be moved laterally by the tractor to follow the steered course thereof', said buffer members arranged in longitudinally spaced pairs on each side of the tractor, there being a pair of cooperating buffer members located substantially midway of the tractor i2. Inly combination,` attraetorfhaving afor- Vwardly locatedenginef'and a criankat its i' front end forl manually crankingf the engine, a snowplowvhaving plow walls disposedin ,V-fashion landllocated just faheaduof the tractor, pair Aof flater-'ally spaced side frame members, yrigidly connected "one toeachzof the plow walls 4and', extending yrearwardly one :fon :each `side of :the `,tractor fto la point substantially midwayy of its length,idriving means connecting the tractor to said side frame members, buffer membersprovided on the tractor and cooperating buffer members provided on said side frame members, said buffer members arranged in longitudinally spaced pairs on each side of the tractor, and a cross frame member extending between the plow walls and said side frame members and located just back of the point of the plow sufficiently to provide space for an operator to crank said engine and so far forwardly yof the plow that it allows the tractor to enter as closely as feasible to the point of the plow, said cross frame member formed to provide a recess to permit rotation of said crank.

3. In combination, a tractor having a forwardly located engine and a crank at its front end for manually cranking the engine, a snowplow having plow walls disposed in V-fashion and located just ahead of the tractor, a pair of laterally spaced side frame members rigidly connected one to each of the plowk walls and extending rearwardly one on each side of the tractor and connected thereto, and cross frame means for interconneet-ing and laterally bracing said plow walls at a level below the lowermost extremity of said crank and for effecting a diagonal bracing of said walls along lines which extend from points on said walls substantially above said level downwardly and inwardly in converging relation to said level, said cross frame means located sufficiently back from the point of the plow to provide space for an operator to stand and crank the tractor and affording by said diagonal bracing arrangement' a recess to permit rotation offsaid crank. f*

4. In combination, a tractor having a forwardly located engine and a crank at its y front end for manually cranking the engine, a snowplow having plow walls disposed in V-fashion and located just ahead of the tractor, a pair of laterally spaced side frame members rigidly connected one to each of the plow walls and extending rearwardly one on each side of the tractor and connected thereto, and a gusset plate having a part extending crosswise .between said side frame members at a level below the lowermost level of said crank and. connected to said members, said plate having integral parts which upstand from the first named part and abut kthe v4f v *i Y Y1,717,571

plow walls `at all points over a substantial verticalrange, said last named parts serving as buttresses to braceupper Vparts of the plow walls from the. first-namedV interconnecting part and: shaped to afford between them a recess which permits rotation of said crank. t I

V5. In combination, a Vsnowplow having fixed thereto Y'two laterally-spaced frame members which extend rearwardly in spaced parallel relation, a tractor the forward part ofwhich isreceived between said members and behind the plow, said tractor having a starting crank at its frontend, and a gusset plate having a part which extends crosswise between said members and laterally braces them at a level below the lowermost'part ofV said Lcrank and two other buttress-like parts which upstand from the rst named part and are laterally spaced to provide clearance for rotation of said crank.

In testimony whereof I' have aHiXed my signature.

' VINCENT P. MARRAN. 

